Deathmatch: HD vs. Blu-Ray (who will win?)

[dekadentdave]

The Format War has begun to rear its ugly head with studios, manufacturers, and retailers alike aligning themselves and embittered consumers passionately taking sides but now it's time for you Freaks to decide the fate of high definition once and for all. Choose wisely. The wrong choice could make your investment go the way of the Divx... into quick obsolescence. It's time to take a stand and settle this debate once and for all, here and now, two formats enter, one format leaves. (the third option is a Wild Card but could it eliminate both formats altogether?)

Ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls. Dying time's here!

 

[Darth Loki]

I have an HD and BR player so I don't have to choose. I'm covered either way

I have a feeling this format 'war' will last another two years. The consumers are the ones that will lose.

 

[EVILFACE]

Dual Player FTW!

 

[KitFisto]

I voted Blu Ray will win. Because I went with HD DVD they will of course lose.

 

[Fritz]

I voted Blu Ray will win. Because I went with HD DVD they will of course lose.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[woodsy]

Went with HD DVD because I hate Sony. Not quite sure how having twice the memory [blu ray] is an advantage when I don't think Sony has utilized it in a single movie they've released to date?

A friend of mine is a real computer whiz and he seems to think the future is VOD.

 

[bagelsncheesey]

Let's do some math here fellas.

(This percentage was done before 300 on Blu-ray and HD DVD)

Here's the LINK.

 

[Gruson]

You realize those charts are from Bill Hunt.

LOL


I honestly do not care who wins, I have both and the more HD, the better IMO.



VOD is a good idea but would require a LOT of space for those wanting to start a library of movies.

It would be great for a movie you only want to watch once though.

Stay away from dual-players, seperates are better.

 

[dekadentdave]

My feelings on Dual-Format is that it is absolutely pointless. It only sustains the notion of preserving both formats. The idea is to eliminate one or the other and move to a unified industry standard.

I have a feeling VOD is where things are headed which would eliminate the need for costly equipment and software and avoid material clutter much like MP3 has pretty much killed the CD industry. My only apprehension about this is that the studios control digital distribution and could sneak in a fail-safe like self-destruct codecs or could run into compatability issues with other proprietary software systems. The architecture of faster internet delivery speeds will radicalize the demand for digital media and studios will move towards more secure and proprietary transmission methods to counter digital piracy. It's still a few years off but it could be the death toll of HD or Blu-Ray in the near future which would make the life-span of those formats even shorter than DVD especially with 2k and 4k formats already being developed to replace HD.

 

[bagelsncheesey]

You realize those charts are from Bill Hunt.

LOL


I honestly do not care who wins, I have both and the more HD, the better IMO.



VOD is a good idea but would require a LOT of space for those wanting to start a library of movies.

It would be great for a movie you only want to watch once though.

Stay away from dual-players, seperates are better.

Sure I do, but the math is there.

 

[MaulFan]

Let's do some math here fellas.

(This percentage was done before 300 on Blu-ray and HD DVD)

Here's the LINK.

It might be good to note that the numbers reflect Studios and their format choice, the BOTH option was confusing until I followed the link.

Statistically, my guess is that home video is potentially going to go the path of video games; the same title offered in multiple formats and leave it to the consumer to choose. I'm sure there will undoubtedly be variations to boost sales one way or the other, but I can see a multi-format world coming to be, unless one technology can surpass the other by such a length that there is no longer a question of which is better.

 

[El Roranous]

Downloading is a rip off.

1) you get nothing tangible for your money.
2) All it does is make it easier for companies to impose restrictions on what you can do with the items you buy.
3) Movies are huge files that take up a lot of space.
4) You can loose everything too easily due to a hard drive crash or something else.

I hope downloading isn't the future because you can count me out then. I don't even download songs from iTunes because of the very same reasons I posted above.

 

[Moonloop]

Ok.....Blue ray is exceeding in sales primarily because of the PlayStation 3 (this has been stated by Sony). When a PS3 sells it not only gets counted as a video game system but also a Blu Ray dvd player. Because a lot of people purchased a PS3 for gaming and get the Blu Ray player in it as a bonus, they jump on the free player and start buying BR discs from time to time. That is why Blu Ray is exceeding in sales. So when a PS3 sells a blu ray player sells and most likely some blu ray movies will be sold.

Now from my experience with various people and friends/business's, most people prefer HD-DVD players and HD-DVDs because they are cheaper.

I agree with the above statement that the HD war will continue for another two years more or less. Even though one has better sales it doesn't seem to be dictating a winner yet.

Anyways bottom line is HD-DVD players and DVDs are cheaper, Blue Ray players and DVDs are more expensive. I ultimately don't think sales will determine the winner. It will be another factor in the business world.

 

[bagelsncheesey]

Ok.....Blue ray is exceeding in sales primarily because of the PlayStation 3 (this has been stated by Sony). When a PS3 sells it not only gets counted as a video game system but also a Blu Ray dvd player. Because a lot of people purchased a PS3 for gaming and get the Blu Ray player in it as a bonus, they jump on the free player and start buying BR discs from time to time. That is why Blu Ray is exceeding in sales. So when a PS3 sells a blu ray player sells and most likely some blu ray movies will be sold.

Now from my experience with various people and friends/business's, most people prefer HD-DVD players and HD-DVDs because they are cheaper.

I agree with the above statement that the HD war will continue for another two years more or less. Even though one has better sales it doesn't seem to be dictating a winner yet.

Anyways bottom line is HD-DVD players and DVDs are cheaper, Blue Ray players and DVDs are more expensive. I ultimately don't think sales will determine the winner. It will be another factor in the business world.

Have you seen the prices lately for Blu-ray discs? Sure, some (like SM3) are outrageously priced, but most have dropped in price. When I bought 300 on Blu at Target, it was $27, the same as the HD DVD.

Also, check out this article. Pretty interesting what develops out of this.

 

[El Roranous]

Have you seen the prices lately for Blu-ray discs? Sure, some (like SM3) are outrageously priced, but most have dropped in price. When I bought 300 on Blu at Target, it was $27, the same as the HD DVD.

Also, check out this article. Pretty interesting what develops out of this.

You are such a blu Ray fan boy.

 

[Moonloop]

Keep in mind HD-DVD gets Transformers exclusively (also on standard DVD). It will be interesting to see if that helps sales.

 

[bagelsncheesey]

You are such a blu Ray fan boy.

you know it man!

honestly, no though. i just want one format, which i've been saying all along. tired of competition and money exchange behind closed doors.

 

[dekadentdave]

Downloading is a rip off.

1) you get nothing tangible for your money.
2) All it does is make it easier for companies to impose restrictions on what you can do with the items you buy.
3) Movies are huge files that take up a lot of space.
4) You can loose everything too easily due to a hard drive crash or something else.

I hope downloading isn't the future because you can count me out then. I don't even download songs from iTunes because of the very same reasons I posted above.

1) Do you have MP3 audio files? How often do you still purchase CD's? With a digital file you can make your own disc, print your own disc sleeves and artwork. If these options were included with the purchase of your digital file would you still buy it?
2) No doubt there will be more proprietary codecs embedded to counter digital piracy.
3) Newer and better codecs could make files sizes even smaller and as the architecture of the internet radicalizes to accomodate faster downloads and hard drive storage increases it will become a relative issue.
4) This is why people need to learn the importance of BACKUPS!

 

[dekadentdave]

Have you seen the prices lately for Blu-ray discs? Sure, some (like SM3) are outrageously priced, but most have dropped in price. When I bought 300 on Blu at Target, it was $27, the same as the HD DVD.

Also, check out this article. Pretty interesting what develops out of this.

You can get that same title for $10 less on HD.

 

[bagelsncheesey]

Keep in mind HD-DVD gets Transformers exclusively (also on standard DVD). It will be interesting to see if that helps sales.

This is true (and I myself to sleep about it) but I don't think it will help much. TF and The Bourne Ultimatum will be the best selling HD DVD's and will beat out Planet Earth and 300, sure. But sales still won't touch the amount sold on standard dvd, and won't touch the overall Blu-ray sales for the holiday season.